Encyclopedia of

Galen Biography

The Greek physician Galen was one of the originators of the science of
anatomy (the study of the structure of living things) and was probably the
most important physician of all time. His surviving writings make up about
half of all ancient writings on medicine.

Early life

Various birth dates for Galen, from 127 to 132, have been suggested, but
130 is generally accepted. He was born at Pergamon, Asia Minor, into a
wealthy family that valued education. Galen's father, Nicon, was
a mathematician, architect, astronomer, and lover of Greek literature.
He was Galen's only teacher up to the age of fourteen and a
strong role model. In his book
On the Passions and Errors of the Soul
Galen says he was "fortunate in having the most devoted of
fathers," but of his mother he says "she was so very much
prone to anger that sometimes she bit her handmaids; she constantly
shrieked at my father and fought with him."

Galen's education and training

In his fourteenth year Galen attended lectures given by many different
philosophers (people who study and search for knowledge) in Pergamon. He
learned something from all of them and thought it was wrong of people to
blindly follow everything any one person might say. Later in life he
urged physicians to take whatever is useful from wherever they find it
and not to follow one school of thought, because that produces
"an intellectual slave." Galen claimed to have studied day
and night for four years. His first anatomy teacher was Satyrus, a pupil
of Quintus, who through his students played a major role in the increase
in activity in the field of anatomy that led to Galen's work.

Galen's father died in 150, and the following year Galen went to
Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey). While there he wrote his first treatise
(argument containing facts and conclusions),
On the Movements of the Heart and Lung.
In 152 he went to Corinth and on to Alexandria, where he remained for
four years studying with Numisianus, Quintus's most famous pupil.
Although Galen admired Numisianus, he was not happy with the quality of
the lectures or the abilities of his fellow students. During this time
Galen produced a number of dictionaries of both literature and medicine.
He also started a major work,
On Demonstration.
Unfortunately, no copy of this work survives.

Medical practice

In 157 Galen returned to Pergamon, where the next year he went to work
as a physician to the gladiators (people who engaged in fights for
public entertainment in ancient times). The injuries the gladiators
suffered provided Galen with excellent opportunities to extend his
knowledge of anatomy, surgery (operations to correct a disease or
condition), and methods of treatment. While working among the
gladiators, whose daily lives are described in his writings, Galen
produced some of his most original work. In 163 he went to Rome, where
his public anatomical demonstrations and his success as a physician made
other Roman physicians jealous. Galen was only interested in passing on
knowledge as widely and as publicly as possible.

Galen returned to Pergamon in 166. However, a severe outbreak of plague
(a bacteria-caused disease that spreads quickly and can cause death)
among the Roman troops in Aquileia in 168 caused the emperors Marcus
Aurelius (c. 121–180) and Lucius Verus to send for him. In 169
Marcus made Galen physician to his son, Commodus (161–192).
During this time Galen completed his major works,
On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body
(in seventeen books) and
On the Natural Faculties,
as well as many other treatises. In 176 Galen returned to Rome
permanently. He continued his writing, lecturing, and public
demonstrations.

Later years

In the winter of 191 and 192 a fire destroyed most of Galen's
library. Yet in spite of this loss, information about his writings
remains because he wrote two treatises on his own books and their order
of production.

Galen.
Courtesy of the

Library of Congress

.

Both works provide a wealth of information on his writings and are
major sources of detail about his life. From 179 to his death around
200, Galen continued his medical research and writings, producing such
major works as
The Method of Cure.
During his last years, however, he wrote more nonmedical works, such as
On the Equality of Sin and Punishment
and
The Slight Significance of Popular Honor and Glory.

Galen's family name is unknown. Not wanting to cash in on the
reputations of his ancestors, he used only his given name. Galen said of
himself, "I have worked only for science and truth and for that
reason I have
avoided placing my name at the beginning of my books."